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I have not voted for myself, a member of my firm or for an endeavour or case in which I am personally involved. These are my personally-held views.

6.Best innovation by an organisation or individual

The launch of the Energy Related Arbitration Practitioners (ENERAP) forum (early 2021)

IBA releases toolkit on insolvency and arbitration (March 2021)

The Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers launches, putting spotlight on race (January 2021)

the African Arbitration Association (AfAA) publishes the African Arbitration Atlas (January 2021)

Delos’ launch of the Remote Oral Advocacy Programme (ROAP) (September-November 2020)

Firms publish new online case management protocol (November 2020)

LatAm group formed to monitor pandemic impact (October 2020)

DIFC courts launch arbitration group, first-of-its-kind in the Middle East (October 2020)

The launch of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (September 2020)

The Swiss Arbitration Association joins forces with Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution by purchasing a controlling stake in the centre (September 2020)

Saudi centre to make mediated settlements enforceable (May 2020)

The launch of the "Mute Off Thursdays” virtual forum (April 2020)

7.Best lecture or speech

Amanda Lee – CIArb International Women’s Day keynote speech “Children of the Revolution: boldly going towards new gender diversity frontiers in international arbitration” (March 2021)

Lisa Sachs – GAR Interactive Mining keynote warning: pursue poorer countries at your peril (March 2021)

David W Rivkin – the University of Miami/White & Case lecture on Post-Pandemic Arbitration: Will It Be Contact-Free? (February 2021)

Robert Volterra – GAR Interactive DACH keynote arguing EU will interfere with commercial arbitration (February 2021)

Loukas Mistelis – EFILA lecture calling for Aristotelean approach to ISDS reform (December 2020)

Maxi Scherer – the Akin Gump lecture on the Proper Law of the Arbitration Agreement (December 2020)

Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler – the UCL/Baker McKenzie lecture charting a course from Alabama to Brexit (November 2020)

Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof – Freshfields lecture giving verdict on Halliburton v Chubb (November 2020)

Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma – speech for the Hong Kong Arbitration Week ADR saying we should listen to the lawyers (November 2020)

Jan Paulsson – Kaplan lecture on the fantasies of omnipotence (November 2020)

Lord Goldsmith – GAR Interactive Moscow keynote on the perilous lack of clarity on courts' review of jurisdiction (November 2020)

Richard Susskind – Alexander lecture on the future of dispute resolution (November 2020)

Alexis Mourre – speech on the use and misuse of bifurcation (October 2020)

Emmanuel Gaillard – lecture for the American University Washington College of Law on seven dirty tricks to disrupt an arbitration (October 2020)

Doug Jones – keynote at the first virtual GAR Live on lessons from lockdown (September 2020)

Pierre Mayer - Sciences Po/Mayer Brown lecture entitled: "Must Justice be a goal for the arbitrator?"

Zachary Douglas QC – the University of Sydney/Clayton Utz lecture on the optimal design of a bilateral investment treaty (August 2020)

Justin D’Agostino – keynote on why online “covid hearings” will improve arbitration (July 2020)

Cherie Blair QC – the Roebuck lecture outlining how arbitration can better meet the needs of people, parties and planet (June 2020)

Karim Youssef – keynote calling for cosmopolitanism in arbitration (March 2020)

8.Best development

Nordic companies seek diversity in law firms, according to Roschier survey (March 2021)

ICC brings in Asia and tech experts to dispute resolution committee (March 2021)

Germany settles with Vattenfall (March 2021)

IBA publishes updated evidence rules (February 2021)

No right to physical hearing in 22 countries, taskforce finds (February 2021)

Green campaign launches (April 2020) and unveils protocols (January 2021)

The relaunch of the London Very Young Arbitration Practitioners group (December 2020)

Claudia Salomon selected as the first female president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (November 2020)

New ICC rules approved (October 2020)

Third-party funders launch global alliance (September 2020)

UNCITRAL and ICSID release draft code of conduct for adjudicators (May 2020)

SCC offers ad hoc platform for free during pandemic (April 2020)

9.Most important decision

France’s Court of Cassation reinstates billion-dollar award against Venezuela (Rusoro, April 2021)

Paris Court of Appeal says PCA lacked power to intervene in OIC case (DS Construction, March 2021)

Delhi High Court enforces SIAC emergency arbitrator order against Amazon’s business partner (March 2021)

Paris Court of Appeal overturns billion-dollar Crimea award (Oschadbank, March 2021)

ICC disqualifies Sachs over related ICSID appointment (Anaklia v Georgia, March 2021)

Spanish Constitutional Court sets high bar for award scrutiny (February 2021) and curbs judicial review of awards (July 2020)

SCC tribunal rejects US$6 billion ECT claim against Ukraine (Littop, February 2021)

Convicted arbitrators’ award blocked in France (Al Misnad v SEGQ) (February 2021)

Frankfurt court says Achmea applies to all intra-EU BITs (Raffeisen v Croatia, February 2021)

Federal Court of Australia rules on recognition of ICSID awards (Spain v Infrastructure Services Luxembourg, February 2021)

UK appeal court rules on duties of experts (Secretariat Consulting v A Company, January 2021)

Cairn wins US$1.2 billion in Indian tax dispute (December 2020)

French Court of Cassation rules on territoriality (Parienti v Panama Canal Authority, December 2020)

Spain fails to unseat ICSID panel over refusal to travel (Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and others v Spain) (December 2020)

Swiss court annuls CAS award over arbitrator's tweets (Sun Yang v Word Anti-Doping Agency and International Swimming Federation, December 2020)

ICC rejects challenge to Panama Canal arbitrators based on “cross-appointments” (Grupos Unidos Por el Canal, December 2020)

UK Supreme Court dismisses appeal over apparent bias in Halliburton v Chubb (November 2020)

UK Supreme Court rules on law governing arbitration agreements (Enka v Chubb, October 2020)

LCIA refuses to disqualify entire tribunal over their refusal to postpone a hearing over lockdown (Actis Consumer Grooming Products v Malhotra and others) (October 2020)

Swiss court upholds CAS award against Caster Semenya (September 2020)

Brazilian airline’s ICC award enforced in Cayman Islands (VRG Linhas Aéreas v Matlin Patterson, August 2020)

Paris Court of Appeal upholds Kabab-Ji award months after a London court refused enforcement (June 2020)

Undisclosed expert ties prove fatal to ICSID award (Eiser v Spain, June 2020)

Cairo court overturns billion-dollar award against Libya (Al Kharafi, June 2020)

10.Jurisdiction that has made great progress

Iraq – accedes to the New York Convention (April 2021)

Malawi – accedes to the New York Convention (March 2021)

Belize – ratifies New York Convention more than 40 years after it was implemented into domestic law (March 2021)

Jersey – signs its first ever BIT (February 2021)

Sierra Leone – joins New York Convention (November 2020)

Ethiopia – joins New York Convention (October 2020)

Singapore – tables amendments to its arbitration law (September 2020)

Switzerland – revised Swiss law gets approval (June 2020)and Swiss Arbitration Association joins forces with Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution (September 2020)

Australia – announces review of country’s BITs (September 2020)

Spain – Constitutional Court sets high standard for judicial scrutiny (July 2020) and Madrid centre sets up a commission to define domestic and international arbitration (October 2020)

11.Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge award

The ICC International Court of Arbitration for selecting Claudia Salomon as the first female president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (November 2020)

German Arbitration Institution (DIS) for the roll out of its Gender Champion Initiative and appointing 53.3% female arbitrators in 2020

Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings for its report on gender diversity in international arbitration, calling for parties to appoint more female arbitrators (July 2020)

Medici for promising to donate a portion of client fees to help promote gender equality (June 2020)

ICCA for its diversity and inclusion policy (June 2020)

ICAC Ukraine – 42.4% of arbitrators appointed in cases in 2020 were female

The launch of the "Mute Off Thursdays” virtual forum (April 2020)

The launch of ArbitralWomen Connect (May 2020)

The Russian Women in Arbitration group for its efforts promoting gender diversity in international arbitration in Russia and abroad

12.Campaign for Greener Arbitration Award for sustainable behaviour

Freshfields for establishing a Green Arbitration Task Force to further reduce the carbon footprint of its international arbitration practice through the implementation of the Green Pledge Principles and for the firm’s 5-year environment strategy which includes a carbon offsetting program supporting the livelihoods of 9,000 farmers in Kenya and Uganda, while enhancing gender equality.

CMS for launching a carbon footprint app to encourage behavioural change (February 2020)

The Chancery Lane Project’s release of the Climate Contract Playbook and Green Paper of Model Laws (February 2020)

Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) for their appointment of a designated Green Ambassador

Herbert Smith Freehills for their travel offsetting program supporting the Sichuan Household Biogas Programme and targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2030

Christine Falcicchio of SopraLegal for chairing the Working Group of the Green Protocols

Clifford Chance for their pro-bono work with the World Economic Forum in relation to Climate Change.

13.Please name a large international arbitration practice that impressed you in the past year. Brief reasons only.

14.Please name an up and coming arbitral institution that has impressed you in the past year. Brief reasons only.

15.Please name a maximum of two arbitrators you have appeared before as counsel that have impressed you with their level of preparation and responsiveness in the past year. Please also include where they practice.

16.Just for fun, please can you tell us what you regard as the worst international arbitration decision and development of the past year and why? There will be no “booby prizes” at the awards but we would like to know.

17.What international arbitration developments would you most like to see in 2021?